Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Fast Charlie . . . The Moonbeam Rider (1979)

Not many of David
Carradine’s projects for penny-pinching producer Roger Corman edge into the
realm of credible cinema, but Fast
Charlie . . . The Moonbeam Rider, a motorcycle picture set in the 1920s, is
highly watchable even though certain elements are undercooked. Rather than
displaying his martial-arts acumen or posturing like some tight-lipped tough
guy, Carradine gets to demonstrate equal measures of charm and vulnerability as
a World War I veteran who exaggerates the scope of his military service while
swindling friends and strangers alike until the love of a stalwart woman
instills him with a newfound sense of pride. The character arc is predictable,
and so is the outcome of the cross-country road race that gives the story its
structure. Nonetheless, the film’s creative team—which includes reliably
unpretentious B-movie director Steve Carver and story co-author Ed Spielman, who
helped create Carradine’s famous TV series Kung
Fu—keeps things lively with an eventful narrative and flashes of colorful
dialogue. Although the picture slips into dull ruts now and then, particularly
during racing scenes in which it’s hard to tell one dust-covered motorcyclist
from another, the movie’s best moments have style and swing.

Carradine plays
Charlie Swattle, a con man who recruits guys from his old U.S. Army motorcycle-courier
unit to serve as a pit crew for the impending race, which begins in St. Louis
and terminates in San Francisco. Complicating matters is the fact that Charlie
abandoned his unit during combat, so most of his former friends now hate
Charlie. He sways them with promises that he’s changed. Also falling under silver-tongued
Charlie’s spell is Grace (Brenda Vaccaro), a waitress who tags along with
Charlie ostensibly because he owes her money. None of this material is
particularly fresh, and neither is the subplot about the avaricious motorcycle
entrepreneur who considers Charlie a threat. Yet the undemanding fun of a
picture like this one involves watching archetypal characters dance to familiar
rhythms. Carradine’s character escapes deadly traps while pulling scams and
telling lies, Vaccaro’s character pushes him to ask more of himself, and the war
buddies played by L.Q. Jones and R.G. Armstrong threaten Charlie with violence
if he disappoints them again—you get the idea. Fast Charlie . . . The Moonbeam Rider isn’t drive-in trash, since
the film’s PG rating precludes sex and vulgarity, so it’s better to describe the
flick as drive-in comfort food.